Regime detains dozens of Maungdaw residents trapped by junta blockades

By Admin 27 May 2024

DMG Newsroom
27 May 2024, Maungdaw

Dozens of Arakanese and Hindu people trapped by the junta blockades in Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township, where military tensions are running high, were reportedly detained on Monday.

Junta soldiers and military-trained armed Muslim men arrived in Maungdaw’s Ward-3 at around 6 a.m. on May 27 and detained over 70 Arakanese and Hindu people without providing any reason.

“They [junta soldiers and Muslim militiamen] raided homes and arrested dozens of Hindu and Arakanese residents,” said a local resident.

The detainees are being held at a school in Ward-3 and have not been allowed to meet their families. The names and details of those arrested are still being investigated by DMG.

Thousands of local people in Maungdaw have fled to safer locations and few remain in the border town.

“About 200 people have been trapped by the junta blockades and the strandees are not allowed to go anywhere. The junta troops take positions at downtown locations and detain the trapped people. Dozens of people trapped by the junta blockades will go hungry in the long run,” said a community elder in Maungdaw.

Ko Ye Min Oo and Ko Oo Ye Min, healthcare workers from Maungdaw Hospital, were arrested near the clock tower in downtown Maungdaw on May 15.

The AA has seized the Border Guard Police Battalion 1 headquarters in Kyee Kan Pyin, Border Guard Police Battalion 7 in Kyein Chaung, and Border Guard Police Battalion 10 in Hla Poe Kaung. It has also stepped up attacks on Border Guard Police Battalion Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 9.

Fighting has been raging in Arakan State for more than six months, with the AA seizing large swaths of territory and effective control of nine townships, as well as Paletwa Township in neighbouring Chin State.